The invention relates to an incontinence article in the form of pants for receiving bodily excretions, with a front stomach portion and a rear back portion which, in order to form a stomach and back band that is continuous in the transverse or waist-encircling direction and has a waist opening closed in the waist-encircling direction, are connected to each other by the manufacturer at side seam regions on both sides, and with a crotch portion which has an absorbent body and which extends in a longitudinal direction between stomach portion and back portion and is joined inseparably to the stomach portion and to the back portion, wherein not only the crotch portion but also the stomach portion and the back portion delimit the leg openings of the incontinence article. An incontinence article of this kind composed of three components is known, for example, from WO 2004/052260 A1, WO 03/039423 A1 and WO-2009/065499 A1. In the case of this specific product concept, after the joining of the crotch portion, extending in the longitudinal direction, to the stomach portion, extending substantially in the transverse or waist-encircling direction, and to the back portion, extending correspondingly, in the spread-out flat state of these three components, an H-shaped basic structure of the incontinence article can be produced. The incontinence article is then formed in a modular manner from the components crotch portion, stomach portion and back portion. These components are advantageously first connected to one another by way of the crotch portion, and, preferably, the stomach portion is thereafter connected to the back portion in side seam regions on both sides. This is a connection performed at the manufacturer's, by which the pants shape is obtained. This connection is typically inseparable. The pants shape may, however, also be separable, in particular along a predetermined breaking line, which may in particular run in the side seam region, for example for removing a used incontinence article from a person needing care.
Incontinence articles in pants form are different in principle from traditional openable and closable incontinence articles in the customary diaper form in that the waist size is generally predetermined and the adaptation to different body sizes is achieved on the basis of a number of standard sizes by an elastic stretchability of the article. Generally used for this purpose are elasticating means, in particular in the form of bands or threads, often referred to as Lycra threads, connected in the pre-stretched state (stretch-bonding process) to chassis materials of the incontinence article, that is to say they are fixed in the pre-stretched state to the chassis materials, for example by means of an adhesive. As a result of their pretensioning, these elasticating means gather the chassis materials together and thereby form pleatings. The incontinence article or the elasticated chassis materials of the incontinence article can then stretch again elastically when the incontinence article is put onto the user like a pair of pants. Incontinence articles in pants form with such elasticated chassis materials are known in many instances and, for example, are also discussed in the previously mentioned WO 2004/052260 A1 and WO-2009/065499-A1.
Using the present invention made it possible to identify that there nevertheless may be significant forces acting in the process of putting on the incontinence article in pants form, to be precise when the chassis materials which were gathered together under the pretension of the elasticating means is opened out. These forces act from different directions, depending, inter alia, on the process of putting on by the individual user. Thus, the forces can act in parallel with and/or at an angle to the profile of the elasticating means and, accompanying this, on the whole laminate structure made of elasticating means and chassis material. The incontinence article in pants form is predominantly exposed to the force action in the region of the waist opening by being pulled apart in the transverse or waist-encircling direction by the user, for example to identify the leg openings for getting into the incontinence article but then also by the chassis material being gripped in order to pull up the incontinence article along the body of the user, and also during this process. This can disadvantageously lead to an impairment of the hold between elasticating means and chassis material right up to a partial delamination, and so the areal elasticating effect of the chassis materials is impeded and hence the fit of the incontinence article in pants form is adversely affected.
Likewise, using the present invention made it possible to identify that the attachment of the elasticating means provided on a chassis material should be adapted to the functions and the objects of the elasticated region in order thus to ensure a very comfortable wear for the user.
Within usual methods, a measure for attaching elasticating means on chassis materials lies in the use of adhesives. Various methods for adhesively attaching elasticating means are known. Thus, EP 1 938 777 A2 describes applying glue to the whole area of at least one of the non-woven fabric webs provided for sandwich-positioning of elasticating means and how these are brought together while laminating an elastic material therein. Disadvantageously, applying glue to the whole area results in large-scale stiffening and a reduction in the breathability of materials, in particular of non-woven fabric materials which are soft and breathable per se, and which are usually used for incontinence articles.
It is furthermore known to carry out single-strand gluing, to be precise such that individual elasticating means are initially surrounded by adhesive and thereafter fed to the lamination between two material webs. Thus, WO 2003/039422 A1 the individual elasticating means is led through a comb-like groove shape of an adhesive application head. Although this counteracts the problem of excessive stiffening and an excessive reduction in the breathability of the chassis materials, a disadvantage in this case nevertheless lies in the fact that the connection points for obtaining a laminate made of elasticating means and chassis material are only obtained at the circumference of the elasticating means. Thus, sufficient holding together of the laminate can only be achieved by a sufficiently large number of elasticating means per material portion. It may likewise be disadvantageous in this case that as a result of the direct application of the adhesive on the elasticating means there is an increase in the risk of damage to the elasticating means. Moreover, it is difficult in the case of single-strand gluing to set the amount of adhesive that should be transferred onto an elasticating means, more particularly onto a thread-shaped elasticating means. Moreover, EP-1830770-A1 also suggests affixing, by means of single-strand gluing, elastic threads arranged in the transverse direction. WO 2009/080180 A1 also provides for individually coating the elasticating means, which run parallel in the transverse direction, with an adhesive.